SPRINGFIELD TWP.: Township and Summit County officials continue to negotiate the fate of the crumbling and cracking Tritts Mill Pond Dam on the Tuscarawas River.In June 2010, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources declared the 100-year-old dam, next to the historical Tritts-Higy Mill at Mayfair and Massillon roads, to be unsafe and unrepairable.The dam has “serious deficiencies” and is being operated and maintained in violation of Ohio rules, the state said, and the best solution is to remove it.Springfield Township, the dam’s owner, says it does not have the money to repair, lower, remove or replace the structure, which stands 13.4 feet high and extends 250 feet.Repairs could cost more than $1 million, according to some estimates; removal could cost $60,000 to $100,000. At issue, the township says, is a controversy over the county’s responsibility to help financially.Springfield officials say the county agreed to be responsible for the dam in a 2007 deal that included Summit giving the dam to the township.But the agreement’s wording indicates the county is not obligated to pay for repairs, said Jason Dodson, chief of staff for Summit County Executive Russ Pry.The 2007 agreement gives the county the right to get involved in repairs, but there is no binding obligation, he said, and the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office and Pry’s legal staff have supported that view.But, Dodson said, the county might be better off helping to pay for the project if the preferred remedy compares favorably with the cost of fighting the township in an expensive court battle.In the meantime, Springfield Township intends to hire an engineering firm to analyze the dam, determine whether the state’s findings are correct and recommend the best remedy.The township doesn’t want to lose the concrete dam, which dates to 1911, because of its history and aesthetics and is exploring all options, township trustee Dean Young said. It would be nice to keep a small waterfall at the site, he said.The township will pay the $21,000 cost of the engineering study.What might be done about the dam could be decided by June, after the engineering analysis is completed, but a final remedy would not be in place until October 2013, according to a letter dated Dec. 1 that the township sent to the Natural Resources Department’s Division of Soil and Water Resources.The township faces a Dec. 31, 2012, state deadline on the dam or there could be legal action. The state must approve the township’s plan for the dam.The state said it will work with the township to get the repairs or removal done by 2013, as long at the danger level remains low, spokesman Jason Fallon said Monday.In the meantime, the township in August opened a valve on the dam. Water now cascades through a 4-foot diameter pipe in the dam and into the river below. No water is going over the spillway.Under state orders, the gate must remain open until the dam is repaired, lowered, replaced or removed to assure the structure’s stability.That action has drained a 3-acre pond to the east of the dam between Mayfair and Killian roads. The old pond is now largely a cracked and fissured mud flat with a narrow stream flowing through it.Neighbors have told township trustees they would like to see the pond refilled.State inspectors revisited the dam Aug. 12, in the wake of heavy rains July 17 and subsequent flooding in Summit County.Mill used for flour, ciderThe old mill sits by the edge of the dam. It was originally a flour mill built in 1836. Later it was purchased by Joseph Tritt, who added a water-powered cider mill in 1898. In 1911, the Higy family bought the mill and operated it until 1998.The old mill now houses a law firm: Daily, Harpst and Freeman.Summit County acquired the dam and pond in 2007 in a deal linked to straightening a section of Pigeon Creek in Copley Township and building a retention basin in New Franklin.To win approval from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, then-county Engineer Greg Bachman bought 16 acres for $51,000 at the Tritts-Higy Mill to protect 385 feet of stream bank. The land was placed in a conservation easement to protect it from development. That’s when the county gave the dam to Springfield Township.The discussion about the fate of the Springfield dam comes at a time when there is a strong movement in Ohio and elsewhere to remove unneeded dams to boost water quality along the streams.That has been done on the Cuyahoga River in Kent and Munroe Falls and plans are in place to remove two more dams in Cuyahoga Falls. The removal of an additional Cuyahoga River dam in Cuyahoga Falls and in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park also has been proposed.Bob Downing can be reached at 330-966-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.